Boise decided on Interfaith Sanctuary twice. Now it will review the decision again
Twice, Interfaith Sanctuary, a low-barrier homeless shelter, has secured approval to move into its new State Street location. But now, Boise’s City Council will once again consider its decision to allow the move, following a court order.
Interfaith Sanctuary already moved into the old Salvation Army building last winter. But the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association, staunch opponents of the shelter location, went to court in December over the city’s previous decision. They argued, among other things, that hundreds of pages of their opposition materials hadn’t been provided to city officials.
A judge agreed and sent the matter back to the city to consider it again, with the new materials included. Council members on June 9 are scheduled to decide whether to change their previous decision, city spokesperson Maria Ortega said by email. There will be no public hearing, Ortega said. The city declined to comment on the court’s order.
“What this proves is that the city doesn’t care,” Brian Ertz, lawyer for the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “There’s no amount of evidence whatsoever that the city could be confronted with, that’s going to compel them to act in compliance with their code.”
Boise and Interfaith Sanctuary opposed sending the decision back to the city: Both parties said in filings that the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association submitted 24,000 pages of documents and that the small number of missing ones were unlikely to sway the council. It was the association’s fault, Boise’s lawyers said in a filing, because its tactic of flooding the council with documents made it more likely something would go missing without notice.
Further, many of the crimes included in the association’s data are also no longer applicable, the city argued, because its own loitering ordinance was found to be unconstitutional in 2025.
It’s been a turbulent ride for the shelter. After months of stalling and discord, Boise’s Planning and Zoning Commission denied the shelter’s permit in January 2022. But that April, the City Council gave Interfaith the green light.
Veterans Park appealed that decision, and won, when the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in January 2025 that the city’s reasoned statement was inadequate, and the City Council could not overturn the decision of the Planning and Zoning Commission unless they could prove that the board made an error.
The second part came as a surprise to the city, which promptly changed its rules and approved the permit again in September. After that, the neighborhood association went to the courts once more, filing its appeal at the end of the year.
The decision pit neighbors worried about their home values, changing the character of the neighborhood and safety against people who argued that their fears were overblown and that the shelter was necessary to care for those experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness in Boise has increased in recent years, thanks in part to skyrocketing home prices.
It’s unclear what could change: The council’s makeup is the same as it was when council members approved the shelter for the second time in September 2025.
Voters have not yet signaled discontent with the shelter. Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton, who represents the district with Interfaith’s new location, handily beat his 2025 opponent, who had pointed to the shelter’s approval as a sign of the city not listening to its constituents.
“The next phase will be us proving that they’re biased, it’s a preordained decision,” Ertz said. “Hopefully we’ll get justice for everyone involved.”
